Ever since solitary confinement came into existence, it has been used as a tool of repression.

While it is justified by corrections officials as necessary to protect prisoners and guards from violent super predators, all too often it is imposed on individuals, particularly prisoners of color, who threaten prison administrations in an altogether different way. Consistently, jailhouse lawyers and jailhouse doctors, who administer to the needs of their fellow prisoners behind bars, are placed in solitary confinement. They are joined by political prisoners from various civil rights and independence movements.”

And that’s exactly what Alabama is doing with their Solitary Confinement- using it to repress and torture anyone that speaks the words FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT. For exposing Alabama’s on going Human Rights violation James Pleasant, Robert Earl Council and Melvin Ray were targeted, singled out and labeled “threats to the security of the ADOC,” then placed in Solitary Confinement with indeterminate sentences.

At the time that these men made their decisions to address the ongoing Civil and Human Rights violations that were apparent in the ADOC, the prisons were historically overcrowded, there was a wave of violence brewing statewide throughout the prisons, living conditions were deplorable, food and healthcare we severely substandard and causing many illnesses and death, and the prison administrators, commissioners, and wardens were all refusing to respond and address the complaints.

Then, on January 1, 2014, under the banner of FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT, a Non-Violent and Peaceful Protest for Civil and Human Rights was launched at Holman Prison, as over 1000 men went on shutdown [work stoppage].

Three days later, on January 4, 2014, 1300 more at St. Clair Prison joined in. These demonstrations remained peaceful the entire time. ADOC officials acknowledged to the AP that these demonstrations were peaceful:

“On Saturday, Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett acknowledged to the Associated Press that since New Year’s Day, at least some prisoners have refused to work in kitchen and laundry areas and perform other jobs.”

“Corbett told the AP that the protests at the St. Clair and Holman Correctional facilities have been peaceful . . .”

Unfortunately for approximately 8 families with loved ones in ADOC, these peaceful ended too soon, because over the course of the next 14 months after the demonstrations ended, with no intervention or improvements from ADOC, approximately 8 men were killed. and hundreds more have been stabbed.

* Our beloved Lil Mook, Marquette Cummins, who came to prison at 17 lost his physical life on January 6, 2015, on the second day of the shutdown. His Spirit lives on and serves as a reminder to us all that we must bring these prisons to an end because they ccontinue to take life, yet give nothing of value in return.

Also, at the same time that these peaceful demonstrations were concluding, the US DOJ issued a report detail the two-decades long horror story that emanated from Julia Tutwiler Women’s Prison in Wetumpka, AL.

According to the report, which was completed after a long investigation, the women confined at Tutwiler had been raped, impregnated, sexually assaulted, abused and exploited for sex for over two decades. Children were born. Children were aborted. Women were beaten and raped, and it was estimated that at least 1/3 of the ENTIRE corrections staff had been involved in the abuses. In that time, less than 10 officers has been prosecuted, and the most time handed out was 6 months, with one officer getting 5 days.

Now, approximately 14 months later, and exclusively for organizing a “non-violent and peaceful protest”, these three men, Robert Earl Council, James Pleasant, and Melvin Ray, have all been labelled a “security threat”. In addition, F.A.M. and the family members and supporters, including those who had lost a loved one to the violence and who were supporting F.A.M.’s call for an end to the violence, were also labelled as a security threat.

Under ADOC rules, violence such as riots, assaults, destroying property, etc., all fall under security threats. In fact, under ADOC rules, a person who commits a murder while in ADOC custody must serve 30 [months] in solitary confinement. Yet, the people who are trying to stop this avoidable and senseless loss of life are subjected to indefinitely periods of solitary confinement. In other words, if any member of the F.A.M. 3 were guilty of committing a murder, they could look to be released from segregation in a definite period of time of 30 months, but for engaging in peaceful protests against the conditions that lead to violence and murder, these men became “security threats.”

Not a single ADOC rules prohibits “Non-Violent and Peaceful” demonstrations. In fact, the right to peacefully assemble is guaranteed and protected by the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In response to the protests, in light of the conditions that were exposed by F.A.M. on social media like YouTube and Facebook, Gov. Bentley and Sen. Cam Ward created a Prison Reform Task Force and have since verified EVERY issue that F.A.M. complained of.

Additionally, EJI followed the demonstrations by filing a lawsuit about the violence at St. Clair, were hundreds of people have been assaulted, including one person by the warden, Carter Davenport, who has since been reassigned to another prison (he was a Captain at Tutwiler during the rapes, etc.). The SPLC has filed a lawsuit on the healthcare against ADOC after the demonstrations.

When Gov. Bentley, Sen. Cam Ward, Chief Justice Roy Moore, Attn General Luther Strange and other state officials acknowledged the problems within ADOC that were exposed by F.A.M., THEY were not labelled security threats. When al.com confirmed that Warden Davenport was the root of the violence at St. Clair they were not labelled a security threat. When the US DOJ reported on the abuses at Tutwiler, they were not labelled a security threat.

But when the people who live in the violence, the very people who are forced to live in the inhumane and uncivil conditions complain about the violence with -non-violent and peaceful protests”, they are labelled a threat to security, even where the violence levels, understaffing, and decrepit conditions show that there is NO SECURITY TO THREATEN, and certainly none to threaten with “Non-Violent and Peaceful Protests!!!

Join F.A.M. as we demand answers from ADOC and other Alabama officials about why these men are being punished for complaining about these ongoing civil and human rights violations.

The Alabama prison system is one of the worst in the nation in regards to overcrowding, inhumane treatment, unsanitary living conditions, inadequate health care and lack of Educational opportunities.

Earlier this year, in response to those horrid conditions, over 4,500 Men at 5 different Institutions in Alabama engaged in Non Violent & Peaceful Protest in the form of a work stoppage. For 3 weeks these men refused to work for free while being dehumanized and economically exploited.

After a press conference at the State Capital and several meetings with the Commissioners of the Department of Corrections, it was agreed that the Alabama prison system needed some drastic changes. This is what they told the public, while internally they began targeting the men they felt like were responsible for organizing and orchestrating such a mass shutdown of their economic stronghold.

Melvin Ray, Robert Earl Council and James Pleasant were targeted, singled out and labeled “threats to the security of the ADOC”, then placed in Solitary Confinement with indeterminate sentences. For the past 9 months, these 3 men have been harassed, intimidated and threatened with physical abuse (and one has been assaulted and deliberately denied medical treatment).

In the course of their continued struggle to get justice in the Alabama prison system, these 3 men have become known as the Free Alabama Movement 3 or (FAM 3).

Part 2

HOLMAN WARDEN STRIKES A DEAL
Holman Correctional Facility’s Warden, Walter Myers has reportedly struck a deal with several influential inmates at the maximum security prison. “I don’t have a problem with y’all using and selling drugs, this is prison and that’s going to happen. Just as there will be occasional fights. But I need y’all to help me keep the violence down. And NO FREE ALABAMA talk.”

Myers seems to be holding his end of the bargain as records show that in the last 6 months:

1. One person stabbed another several times. He served 4 months in Solitary Confinement and war released back to general population.

2. The Wardens’ runner was found in possession of 3 grams of crystal meth. He served 16 days in Solitary Confinement and was then released back to general population.

3. Two men assaulted one another with weapons. One served 45 days in Solitary Confinement. The other served 63 days in Solitary Confinement. Both were then released back to general population.

So, as Warden Myers stated, drugs and violence are acceptable parts of prison.

However, what is not and will not be tolerated- FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT. For promoting FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT- teaching other inmates the law and expressing their views about the on-going Human violations occurring at Holman Prison, Robert Earl Council and James Pleasant have been placed in Solitary Confinement with indeterminate sentences.

To date, Robert Earl Council has served 9 months in Solitary Confinement with no consideration for release. James Pleasant has served 8 months in Solitary Confinement with no consideration for release. So, once again, it appears that Warden Myers is truly a man of his word.

MS Southern Belles

Come be a part of an Amazing Journey, help us bring empowerment to the incarcerated & their families: Mississippi Southern Belles, P.O. Box 442, Jackson, MS 39205, mississippisouthernbelles@gmail.com, (601) 345-1674

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